Games of a Madman
by Emillz
Summary: When Chloe, Lana, Clark, and Lex celebrate the start of summer, no one expects to be caught in a nightmare of events that pair them up against the odds and spur an investigation to uncover who is setting them up. Chlex, possible Clana Some strong language
1. Patterns of Silence

Chapter 1: Patterns of Silence

Two dollars and sixty-three cents. That's exactly how much money Chloe Sullivan needed to buy a movie ticket on the first Saturday night of summer vacation. But spare money on weekends was rare in the Sullivan household, especially in the form of whole dollar bills. Not that she hadn't contemplated paying in dimes and nickels… But this in the company of a certain bald-headed billionaire (who'd probably have to break a hundred dollar bill to buy popcorn) simply wouldn't do. Why had Clark invited Lex to go with them? _Oh, that's right_, she reminded herself all too clearly, _because he probably knows he'll be too infatuated with Lana to even look at me. _Then again, perhaps the thought of Clark realizing his feelings for Lana was giving him too much credit. Way too much. After all, two years was a long time to harbor such a zealous attraction to someone. Actually, in her own experience, it wasn't that long at all. Chloe had had a crush on Clark since the day she'd met him, when she had allotted him the shocking experience of having his first kiss come from almost a complete stranger. But that was another story.

Underneath her bed was cluttered with books, papers, pens, missing socks, and other miscellaneous goodies she never seemed to be able to find places for. As she rummaged through the debris, searching for her wallet, the June heat was creating an uncomfortable stickiness on her skin that made her knees stick to the wooden floor_. Just be thankful it's not leather_, she told herself with a frown as she remembered summers in the past where she had come home from school totally wiped and had collapsed in her dad's leather recliner in the living room only to have to peel herself painfully from itminutes later. Wiping the sweat from her forehead with one hand and then pulling short blond bangs away from her eyes, she realized she was definitely going to need a shower. At least she had short hair, she thought to herself, although getting it to sit just right every day tended to be a painstaking task. She could hardly imagine what it must be like for someone like Lana Lang on these sweltering Kansas days, with her long, flowing, dark locks that trailed after her in the wind as though she were a movie star. In fact, sometimes Chloe wondered why Lana even bothered to keep it looking so nice when she could probably have gone without showering for days and still have been idolized for it more than anyone else in Smallville.

_Wow, way to be jealous of one of your new best friends, not to mention the girl now sharing your house, _she scolded herself, unsticking her palms from the floor as she stood up with a sigh. School had been a total pain that day, which probably accounted for at least some of her grumpiness. Also, she just plain hated being hot.  
_Way to live in Kansas, _she added glumly.

It was now ten minutes after she had planned to go to the gas station to fill up her car in time to pick everyone up. At least Lex didn't need picking up. She smirked at the thought of any Luthor bumming a ride off of some highschoolers in a Volkswagon Beatle or an oversized pickup truck, although she didn't know which was funnier; Lionel or Lex. She'd never seen either one of them arrive anywhere in any vehicle other than a limo, helicopter, or ridiculously expensive car in loud colors as eccentric as the drivers. It was one thing to buy expensive cars simply because you had the money, but to buy vanity license plates adorned with the letters "LEX" on them she found entirely haughty. Honestly, could he make people hate him more? Probably not even if he shot the president. _File that last comment under the category of delirium_, she told herself.

Several lint covered quarters later, it was time to skip filling up the car with gas and go straight to the shower. At least she could have a few minutes of relaxation amidst the day's chaos. Not bothering to bring clothes in with her, she headed down the hall to the bathroom. Just then, she winced as the phone rang in her bedroom and downstairs. Remembering with a sigh that Lana was working at the Talon and Chloe's dad was in Metropolis until morning, she abandoned the bathroom door in search of the cordless phone in her room.

T-shirt, sandals, copy of the Torch, prom dress (ugh), pillows, notepad, … The room seemed suddenly quite cluttered.

_Riiiiiiiiing! _

"Come on, come on… talk to me, baby!" she said, urging the phone to show itself among the debris.

_Riiiiiiiiing!_

Then she spotted the red antennae (yes, it was seriously oldschool) sticking out from under her covers and remembered Clark had woken her up that morning with a friendly but oh-so-obnoxious good morning call. She dove onto the bed for it and nearly fell off in the rush to push the "talk" button.

"Hello?" she managed to say, struggling to cling to the edge of the mattress.

"Chloe? It's Lex," spoke the notoriously serene voice from the other end. One eyebrow went up in interest as she heard it.

"Oh, hey Lex, what's up?" she said as nonchalantly as possible.

"Clark just called me from the Talon," he answered casually.

"He told me he ended up swinging by the Talon, so it would be easier for him to give Lana a ride to the movies and…" He seemed to be contemplating this next part…

" Well, I could pick you up at your place and we could meet them up there, if you're up for it?"

_Great_, she thought dismally, _now I have to pay for a ticket with change AND carpool with Lex. Not to mention how weird this could be…_Yet there remained a certain intimation of a challenge in his word choice… "_If you're up for it_."

It wasn't some huge secret that she and Lex had never really been close, but talking on the phone and driving places together just seemed to amplify the void. She knew it was selfish, but today she just wasn't up for the rainbow of aphorisms that was Lex Luthor. Sometimes he reminded her of a fortune cookie with all his politic sayings from obscure references that he had somehow memorized throughout his life span of only 22 years. He did provide an interesting contrast with Clark however, whose wisdom seemed completely unrehearsed and also strangely unexplained and unjustified. By all means, you would think that an erudite billionaire in his twenties would be able to recite more meaningful words of advice than an 18 year old farm boy/former quarterback. Then again, why look for logical explanations in Smallville of all places?

"…Chloe?" She hadn't realized… Had he been talking this whole time?

"Uhh… Yeah, that's fine, I guess. So… around what time—" there was a slight pause followed by the muffled thump of Chloe losing the battle with the mattress and hitting the rug beside the bed—

"Are you alright?" Lex asked in a tone that was partially concern but mostly genuine amusement.

She silently thanked God that Lex couldn't see her blushing over the phone, as she rubbed her bottom in pain where it had collided with the floor.

"Yeah, I just… was… Doing some laundry." Yeah, that should do it. There was another painful silence. He seemed to enjoy those.

"Okay… Well, I can be at your house in about… fifteen minutes?"

Fifteen minutes? He obviously hadn't spent much time around teenage girls. There wasn't enough time, but the shower could not be skipped. She climbed to her feet and gathered up her wardrobe. The longer she kept him on the phone, the later he would get there, she thought… assuming he had actually meant that he would be driving.

"Hmm…. Make it 17 minutes and I'll consider it," she joked, surprised at her own playfulness. Apparently he was a little surprised too, because another of his adored silences followed. Talking to him was like talking to someone in space through a satellite, she thought.

"Sixteen," he answered, and she heard the willingness in his voice to play along.

"Sixteen and a half," she corrected, now abandoning her wardrobe completely to listen to him. He didn't laugh, but she just knew he was wearing that "how-adorably-highschool-is-this?" smirk on his face right then.

"Alright," he agreed suspiciously, "but that's as high as I'll go." Chloe made a show out of a lengthy sigh.

"You're tough, but fair. I'll take it."

She smirked at her own totally odd sense of humor. Why was this so funny to her? Was it because of just who she was joking with? And there was that beloved silence again.

"Good. I'll be at your door in exactly 16 _and a half_ minutes."

"Wow, you're coming up to the door? Next thing I know, you'll be giving me your pin and your letterman jacket." Unfortunately, her awesomely snide remark went unnoticed.

"That reminds me, is your dad okay with me giving you a ride?"

Chloe paused to consider this. Why wouldn't her dad be okay with it? Sure, Lex was notorious for driving fast, but he wasn't exactly supposed to be their chaperone.

"Well, he's still in Metropolis for that meeting or whatever it is, I don't know… You're his boss, you tell me."

"Right. I forgot."

Awkward pause.

"I'm sure it's fine," she finally said, just to break the pattern of silence they seemed to have fallen into.

"If you can't trust a Luthor, who can you trust?" she said, the phrase dripping with sarcasm, and she guessed he could probably hear her stifle a chuckle. This time, he was the one to sigh.

"Any of the local community would probably be more reputable," he answered smoothly, not even hinting at whether or not he had meant to make it sound so obvious. Chloe shifted the phone to her other hand and rushed into the bathroom, almost slamming the door behind her as she realized the time.

_I wish I had a waterproof phone, _she thought.

"Yeah," she stalled, "Except maybe the reporters."

"Chloe, are you suggesting that anyone could be less reliable than a Luthor?"

_Of course not!_

"I'm just saying, never underestimate the lengths to which an investigative reporter will go to get a story." When he didn't immediately respond, she added a footnote:

"Any good reporter has to be sneaky sometimes, Lex."

"You know what they say about reporters, Chloe…" he interjected, letting the question hang rhetorically in the air. After a small break in the conversation, she cursed herself for having actually expected him to answer it.

"No," she said irritably, "what do they say?" _This should be good._

"Nothing," he replied knowingly, allowing her a few seconds of bewilderment, "Because a good reporter always gets the last word."

_Oh, he's tricky_, she thought in admiration, _but he certainly knows the reporters' mantra._

"Do save some of that fortune cookie knowledge for the interview with Letterman, Mr. Luthor," she poked eagerly at his patience, turning the water on for her shower and taking off her socks first.

"I had no idea you were planning on watching. What a supporter… I can see why Clark keeps you around."

_Fortune cookie reading son of a bitch! _she screamed in her head. Response, she needed a response. Okay, don't say the first thing that pops into your head…

"Yeah well… He makes good use of my other talents too."

NO! She'd meant her reporter's intuition, but without actually having _said_ that, the whole thing just sounded dirty. Much to her dismay, she heard Lex actually laugh on the other end. So this was the bitter taste of defeat mixed with embarrassment.

"I mean… I didn't mean I…. I'll see you soon," she muttered just before hanging up without awaiting his response. She didn't need to know how much of an idiot she sounded like just now. She imagined a lit-up scoreboard with a giant _1_ lighting up under _Lex_ and a gigantic _0_ under _Chloe_. Was it possible to beat him at his own game?


	2. In the Car

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews! This is my first fanfic posted in public. I'm updating the story as I write it, so updates might be a little sporadic after this one. FYI, planning much more Chloe/Lex stuff and probably some Clark/Lana too. I know many of you like to know approximately where in the Smallville storyline I picked up with this story, but I really didn't think ahead that much. Let's just say its sometime after the first prom. With time, you'll grow to accept this. :D

**Disclaimer:** OK, I don't own Smallville. But would it kill it to call me once in a while if it's going to stay out late! …Also, I don't own Queen or their music. 

**Chapter 2: In the Car**

Lex practically jumped out of the driver's seat of his very costly silver car as he pushed the button to play some music. Although he was slightly familiar with the band Queen, he was certain this was not the CD he had meant to play. Here was another one of those rare downfalls to being a billionaire… He found it hard to keep his collection straight, having owned almost every type of music on the planet.

He turned the volume down to a reasonable level and regained his composure at the wheel, pulling back onto the right side of the road with ease. Good thing this was Kansas, otherwise this might have looked strange. Glancing down at the radio, he decided a song about a rock legend coming out of the closet was better than any song they were playing on the newest stations and on MTV these days. He actually hadn't even known the context of this song until Chloe had commented on it to him and Clark as it played during a commercial the last time they had gone to the movies.

That girl was a reflection of himself in many ways, like her knack for picking up and retaining little factoids about nothing in particular. Except that hers usually were more entertaining to everyone than Lex's knowledge was to anyone.

_What are you saying? You're rich… You lost the need to be entertaining years ago, _he assured himself. Still, Chloe never did seem at all impressed by either his money or his inbred thirst for knowledge. Honestly, that was what held his interest in her. When they engaged in their intellectual duels on rare occasion, there was always a mutual satisfaction at the end, though nothing was ever really accomplished or decided upon. It was pretty well known that Lex and Chloe were often a recipe for either awkward silence or a constant sparring of egos when left alone, even for brief intervals, but it never seemed to stop those instances from happening. Not that Lex didn't completely enjoy talking with the highschool girl, if you could even call it talking. But as much as they mirrored one another, they really had very little in common outside their keen intellects and witty remarks. In fact, the only thing that ever did bring them into eachothers presence was their friendship with Clark and Lana. Everything else was just business about donations to the Torch or things about her father's work at the plant. She was a distraction at best, nothing more.

Accepting that last thought as a fact, he tried to focus on the pale dusty road ahead, but his mind wandered back to the conversation with Chloe over his cell phone earlier. He remembered her saying something about Clark but phrasing it awkwardly so that it seemed to have sexual implications, and she had gotten flustered and ended the conversation abruptly. He couldn't help the crooked smirk that crept onto his mouth as he thought of how pink her face must have been. It wasn't often that he managed to agitate her to that point, but when he did he found it well worth the wait.

After pulling into the driveway in front of the Sullivan house, Lex turned off the engine and got out only to find Chloe stepping hurriedly outside and shutting the door behind her. Although he had talked himself into wearing something other than his favorite silk shirt (in an effort to seem a little more casual), he suddenly felt very self conscious of his apparel. Chloe was wearing an attractively short but still modest denim skirt and a green T-shirt that matched her little dangly earrings and her freakishly small purse. Even during this absent-minded staring, he wondered how she could possibly use a thing so small for storage, and also how she could walk in her tan high-heeled shoes.

_At least this eliminates the question of knocking on the door,_ he told himself as he saw her clutch the tiny purse tighter and slow to a halt at the car.

"Sorry, the place is a mess," she said reasonably. "My dad would flip if he knew I let his boss see our housekeeping skills."

She seemed to be waiting for him to reply.

Oh, yes, talking is good… He ripped his thoughts from the questionably tiny purse and moved around the front of the car to meet her.

"Well, since I didn't come up to the door," he said smoothly, "I guess I can't give you my letter jacket or my pin."

She was obviously remembering the comment on the phone.

"Lex," she said coolly, "My dad would also flip if he knew you pinned me in our driveway."

Lex watched her brush past him and shut the car door behind herself as he tried hard not to look half as amused as he really was. This was going to be an interesting alternative to sitting in the mansion going over paperwork for the plant. Then again, what wasn't these days?

The CD player in Lex's car began drumming out the familiar Queen tune again, and Lex silently cursed himself for having not taken it out when he had the chance. As much as Chloe entertained him, he really wasn't in the mood for a history lesson on the life and times of Queen. In the passenger seat beside him, he could see even without turning fully that Chloe's eyebrows were raised in surprise.

"I didn't take you as a big fan, Lex," she commented, and he could tell she was smirking.

"Neither did I at first," he replied conversationally, "but I'd rather hear this than rap or pop music on the radio. I can't stand most of that stuff."

Chloe's smile lessened a bit and she shook her head at him.

"It's not that bad," she said impassively, "Well, not compared to your much loved opera music or classic symphonies. That stuff puts me to sleep, honestly, I don't know what the big obsession is about."

Lex frowned slightly, but kept his eyes on the road. Was she trying to push his buttons? Because it was going to be a lot harder than insulting his taste in music.

"I wouldn't expect someone your age to be able to see the intricacies at work in classical music, or to be able to understand the emotions conveyed through opera." He kept a straight face as always, thanks to years of practice, but he was laughing on the inside. She took the bait just as he expected.

"Someone my age?" she questioned, sounding rather indignant, "Lex, you're only what, twenty-two years old? You're not exactly an old man. I mean, yeah, you're older and probably a little more knowledgeable on that stuff, but let's keep in mind that some of us weren't raised by eccentric high-class billionaires…"

She let the phrase hang there, and he looked over to see that she was obviously regretting being so forward about his father. He knew she wasn't usually scared of the elder Luthor, but Lionel had always been a tricky subject and she tried not to bring him up too much.

"Something you should definitely be thankful for," he said lightly, trying to change the topic.

"I don't suppose anyone knows what movie we're seeing tonight?"

Chloe shrugged.

"Probably something extremely G-rated, if I know Clark and Lana well enough," she sighed. He could tell she was hoping for something more exciting.

"Sometimes I just wish they would throw all caution to the wind and see a horror film or something. Just something with some bad language here and there and maybe a few explosions would do it."

Lex almost laughed at this. He too had wished the same thing on several occasions.

"They're a lot alike, Clark and Lana," he said, barely thinking of where this was going. "I can see why they get along so well. However, I was glad when Clark told me he'd asked you to go to the prom with him." Was it obvious he was prying? Well, it wasn't like he was lying. He had been glad for Chloe, because he could tell she'd had feelings for Clark for quite some time. Besides, he wanted to find out what had happened that night, since Clark hadn't revealed all the details over the past couple weeks.

Chloe looked suddenly less comfortable and there was not even the slightest trace of the smile that had been on her face before.

"Yeah, well we saw how that turned out," she said gloomily. Lex didn't know what she meant, but it was obvious Clark had screwed up somehow.

"Actually, the only reason I mentioned it is because I haven't gotten the chance to ask Clark about it the past couple weeks. I take it it didn't go so well?"

She glared at him and the air in the car seemed suddenly much colder.

"Let's see, I finally get Clark to see me as more than a friend, and Smallville gets ravaged by a few gigantic twisters, simultaneously putting Lana in danger. Clark leaves dance, Clark saves Lana, Chloe goes home. Alone." There was a brief pause, then she added, "All in all, it was a magical evening."

Lex brought his eyebrows together in thought.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Chloe. I really hoped it would work out between you two." Well, the first part was true.

When Chloe just nodded, he remembered something.

"I thought of stopping by, you know," he said, but seeing the confusion on her face he added, "to the dance. Just to make sure the band I hired had made it okay, and to say hi to you and Clark, of course."

Chloe stared at him with a look that he guessed either meant she was surprised by this or that he had said something wrong again. He wasn't sure what she was thinking, but it definitely wasn't what he was hoping for. How could he tell her that he had almost stopped by the dance in hopes of stealing her away for a minute or two, just to get a good look at her in her dress? He shouldn't be thinking that, but he was. Maybe she was thinking about how glad she was he hadn't stopped by, because it would have made things worse. Or maybe she just thought he was stupid for wanting to go to a highschool dance. Lex waited silently for her to respond, thankful that the movie theater was now in sight.

Hahahha! I hate cliffhangers with a vengeance, so I'm sorry about this. For those of you Clark/Lana lovers, don't fret, there will be both of them in the next chapter. I know it's all starting out pretty slow, but I promise they will reach the movie theater in the next chapter, so sit tight! PS: Faster updates from now on, I'm making a commitment!

Reviews:

AhToLoveABat –Thankyou so much! Definitely more Chlex banter, I looove it.

WelshChicky –Yes, I too love the Chlex. More indeed!

campbti –I know, sorry this took so long, btw! Oo

EViv –Thanks! I totally read your story, it was really good! Keep writing!

asharnanae –Score! I was going for that quirky feeling, so yeah… sweet

Oranges and Cappuccino –I'm happy to hear it! I'll update faster, promise :D

misschief28 –I'm glad I got the banter right too.

ElizabethV –Yeah, I just couldn't resist making at least one chapter just Chloe/Lex interaction.

…Also, thanks to:

bluengreenswmer94, Fire of the Dragons, smallvillegurl, Lynx16


	3. Crossing the Line

Thanks my lovely reviewers… You keep me sane! Hah, actually, no one could do that. Sorry Lana/Clark fans (if any of you are reading this), I've decided to write only from Chloe and Lex's point of views…But of course, they will make appearances. Not sure where I'm going with this at all, so keep reading. PS: Sorry, this chapter is REALLY long in my opinion, but once you pop the fun don't stop!

Also, fyi, this does take place somewhere after the 1st season, except for all purposes there is no Whitney, none of Clark's sparse love interests, and a slightly less menacing Lionel…I think.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Also, I don't own Pringles. (lol)

Chapter 3: Crossing the Line 

"I thought of stopping by, you know…to the dance. Just to make sure the band I hired had made it okay, and to say hi to you and Clark, of course."

Lex had just unknowingly made things worse for her, Chloe thought morbidly. Why did he have to tell her he had _almost_ stopped by? That he had _almost_ been there to at least take pity on her so she wasn't alone? Lex could have _almost_ made the dance okay. After several moments of just staring, Chloe realized guiltily that she had made him feel uncomfortable. That in itself was rather amusing, making a Luthor uncomfortable with just her stare, but she tried not to dwell.

"Did you?" she finally choked out, trying hard to erase the look of bewilderment that threatened to show.

"Well,… It's just too bad you didn't. I mean, I've gotta hand it to you, Luthors sure know how to party."

Leave it to her to turn the biggest social disaster of her life into a joke. However, Lex seemed a little too focused on the road ahead as Chloe glanced over at him. Maybe she was being too forward, but again she had to stifle a grin at the thought of making him feel uncomfortable. Wasn't it always the other way around?

_Don't go changing the rules _nowshe thought with a giggle.

"Something tells me I might have looked a bit odd as a wallflower at Smallville High's junior prom," he finally replied while wearing his infamous billionaire, high-class, businessman, mad scientist smirk on his lips. That smirk was like a challenge to Chloe, whether he meant it to be or not. Every time it appeared, she had the urge to say or do something to make it disappear, just to show him that she could indeed play with the big boys.

"Hey," she said without thinking, "I doubt you would make a very convincing wallflower. I mean, I'm sure _someone_ would take pity on you after a while."

From the looks of it, pity didn't rank very highly in the Luthor book of all things necessary for power and success.

_Lex: 1, Chloe: 1, _she thought with images of the scoreboard coming into play just as the smirk was silently defeated and replaced by a look that Chloe was certain meant he was trying to imagine anyone pitying him. This time, the imaginary scoreboard was accompanies by imaginary cheering fans.

Finally, several minutes of silence later, the car turned into the parking lot for the theater. Chloe almost pressed her face to the expensive glass of the car window in excitement upon seeing the chaos that was teenagers freshly out of school and celebrating summer with a movie. The scene was almost reminiscent of her days in Metropolis, with it's many cars zipping in and out of the parking spaces, the bunches of people scampering in and out of the glass doors to the lobby, some of them strolling along the sidewalk waiting for other members of their parties to arrive. The purple and green fluorescent lights blinked invitingly around the billboard-like list of movies above the lobby entrance, and a giant sign with an image of popcorn on it was blinking with a few pieces of the neon light apparently not working. It provided an interesting contrast, the cheap-hotel like feeling of the faulty neon lighting compared to the big city feel of the green and purple lights. In a way, that was how the theater fit into Smallville. It was one of the small town's only claims to fame, other than the meteor shower and its effects on the citizens, of course. Too bad there had never been a story involving the theater that had ever been worthy of even a newspaper such as the Torch. It was a fun place for people to hang out, but it was never Wall of Weird material, and therefore Chloe never took any investigative interest in it.

Over it all was a cloudy evening sky turned pale pink and orange. The sun's setting rays cast a warm glow over the shiny tops of cars and glinted off of glass windows like the sun shines off of water at the beach. However, the clouds were heavy with gray shadows, and the weather forecast had called for rain with possible thunderstorms throughout the night. There was a good possibility of a storm before the movie was over, and Chloe suddenly wondered who she was getting a ride home with, also suddenly wishing Pete had been able to come along instead of babysitting his little cousin. He never missed their annual celebratory first movie night of summer, which made her suspect it had more to do with Lex's presence than he let on.

Focusing again on her situation, she decided that if she got home by the same means as she arrived, the conversation with Lex would be more structured, a bit awkward, and occasionally nonexistent. However, if it meant not enduring the naivety of Clark and Lana concerning eachother, then Chloe was willing to suffer the consequences. These days she was finding it tough to stomach the two timid lovebirds when put together, though she did her best to act normal and peppy around them. As much as she tried to forget about Clark, she just couldn't get him off her mind.

"Uh, Chloe?" Lex was saying, "Not that this isn't entertaining, but I think pressing your nose up against the glass is making you look like some kind of zoo animal or something. People are starting to stare…"

And just like that, reality came into place around her as she realized she had indeed been pushing her nose against the window in her effort to see the clouds that threatened rain when she had spaced out completely, making sort of a pig imitation with her nostrils all exposed. She pulled back almost too quickly only to see that Clark and Lana were standing on the edge of the sidewalk in front of the lobby, giving her the same odd look as the other spectators. At first, Chloe felt her face get slightly pink, then seeing how amused everyone was by her, she had to laugh. She had actually left a small foggy spot where her breath had been on the glass, and she quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand.

"Sorry," she offered to Lex with a smile, "Just spaced out for a second."

Lex laughed as he parked the car in a space right near the front of the theater. Chloe had to applaud herself mentally for that, since he never truly laughed at anything unless it was his fake businessman laugh which she found rather too maniacal for her taste.

Lex got out of the car and Chloe quickly followed, not wanting him to have to open the door for her. No need to bring chivalry into this already weird situation, she figured. He seemed to agree, nodding his head once, and they reached the sidewalk to meet Clark and Lana, though not quickly since Chloe was finding it difficult to keep up in her high heels.

Clark was wearing a tan jacket over his famous red plaid shirt with blue jeans and the tan boots that reminded Chloe of the hiking boots her dad had worn on their camping adventures when she was little. Lana was at his side, beaming as usual with her dark hair hanging around her shoulders, wearing a cute ensemble of jeans and a pink sweater that didn't quite cover her shoulders. Hah, Lana had worn unpractical shoes as well! They were white heels that must have felt a lot like the pins and needles Chloe's own shoes were imitating at this very moment.

"Hey, guys," Clark said with his charming smile that could melt even the meanest Catholic school nun into a puddle, and Chloe felt some old feelings arising. Actually, the memory of the prom was still fresh in Chloe's mind, as she was sure it was in everyone else's.

"Hey Clark, Lana," Lex greeted them both with a nod, and Chloe actually thought for a moment that the disquieting view she had given everyone of her nostrils had been completely forgotten. Alas, it had not.

"Chloe," Lana managed through her laughter, and she knew what was coming, "What were you doing? I mean, everyone was kind of pointing for a while…" Then she broke off into a stream of giggles which she tried to repress by placing a hand over her mouth. Chloe didn't have to look at Lex, or even Clark to know they were ready to laugh along with her.

"Okay, so my comedic timing is a little off," she said with a laugh, "And my sense of humor is a little different than most, but whatever. I might have had some things on my mind." Yeah, they should buy that. No one would ever suspect that she was thinking fluffy thoughts about Clark and had gotten lost amidst the fog of hormones, even though she was clearly blushing and avoiding eye contact with him. But wait… Was that a skeptical look from Lex?

_What a rare occurrence_, she thought sarcastically.

"Either way, I think you got their attention," he said with a cocky smirk and a nod towards the throngs of other young people… Ah yes, the challenging smirk. Was it ever absent for long? She didn't feel really up to the challenge this time, but… this time it was different. It was somehow colder, more menacing, and equally more challenging.

"Are you sure they were staring at me?" she said casually.

"Because I _was_ sitting next to Smallville's most eligible billionaire. I mean, once they got a good look they probably just thought I was your wealthy high-class supermodel date."

_Don't flatter yourself, Chloe_, she thought dismally.

"With that face you pulled back there?" he quipped, the smirk more present than ever,

"More like my sick degenerate younger sister with the mental instabilities."

"Look who's talking about being mentally unstable."

"Well you know what they say about that, Chloe,"

He was getting unbearable.

"No, _please_ tell me, what _do_ they say, Mr. Luthor?"

She was getting uncontrollable.

"The distance between genius and insanity is measured only by success. And I think by business has had quite a lot of that, even in Smallville."

_Stupid fortune cookie quotes… _

"Well, you've proved your business isn't insane. How about the guy who runs it?"

"Why don't you tell me? I mean, you're the troubled younger sister here, shouldn't you know me better than anyone? I assume our parents left us when we were very young, and that's the main cause of your…disturbances."

"You're probably the reason they left us… Couldn't stand to see their name tarnished by your twisted ideals." …That smirk was still there. Now she wanted to win. What the hell was happening to her?

"Somehow I doubt that _I_ was the one they couldn't stand to have sully their name," he replied rather harshly.

_Okay, what is his problem? Does he have some personal vendetta to verbally beat me to a pulp in public? This is getting intense; I should back out while I still have some pride left…_

"Well you would certainly know about sullied names, wouldn't you?"

_Aaagh! Why, Chloe, why always bring his name into it! Wasn't the plan to back away slowly?_

It was obviously a completely unoriginal insult that was referred to in some way by probably every person that didn't like Lex or his father, which made up most of the human population, but from her it seemed to have hit home. The smirk vanished without a trace, and suddenly this victory felt strangely empty. The imaginary scoreboard lit up, Chloe: 2, Lex: 1, but the imaginary fans were not cheering. Lex's eyes had adopted the cold and withdrawn feeling that his smirk had expressed at first, and now Chloe could feel the likeness he shared with his father. Somewhere around when the dead silence surrounding her dawned on her, and when she began feeling everyone's eyes on the two of them, it also dawned on her that she may have actually crossed the line. And from the looks of things, childish arguing also didn't rank too highly in the Luthor book of all things necessary for power and success.

A/N: Sorry, already way too long, but still personal reviews, bc I'm apparently that cool. Oo Sorry if I miss anyone, my computer is being funny and I can't get the one review page to come up. :(

Kit Merlot –Why thank you, I am deliberating whether to go with a purely Chlex storyline.

Fire of the Dragons –Wow, that's flattering! I can't believe I made your fav. stories list:D

ElizabethV –Yeah, that line was like my favorite too!

Chloedouble1011 –I know, and I'm ashamed of my cliffhanger! It does make for some drama, though :\

Misschief28 –Thanks so much! I _love_ your story, btw! Sorry again for dramatic chapter endings.


	4. Sullied Names

**A/N:** You know, I actually didn't disappear the whole time. My computer ate my chapter 4, so I had to write a new one up in its place. Couldn't remember what I had before, but I think you'll like this better. If that's not fate, then I don't know what is!

**Disclaimer:** I don't have any affiliation with _Smallville_ or its owners, and I definitely make zero moneys off of this. I do make monkeys off of it though. Also, I have no association with any films mentioned, though I'd LOVE to own Johnny Depp!

**Chapter 4: Sullied Names**

Lex could have stayed like that all day, just standing there staring back at Chloe's obviously angry expression. It was beyond entertaining to watch the emotions warring over her, which he was guessing were frustration and doubt. Also, Clark and Lana managed to simultaneously make the same face that looked a lot like a deer caught in headlights. He probably would have laughed at the two, who seemed to want nothing more than to know what to say to quell the argument, as was their way, but it wouldn't be appropriate to laugh. Not that he ever truly did. Right now, he was telling himself that he didn't care what she said about him; after all, he heard it several times a day practically every day. Still,…

"_Well you would certainly know about sullied names, wouldn't you?" _

If he was so indisputably the scum of society, if you could call Smallville's scanty population of farmers a society, then why did Chloe even bother with the formalities every time they spoke? Hadn't they just been joking around a minute ago? Distantly he thought he felt bad for making everyone so uncomfortable, but Luthors don't have remorse, they aren't courteous, and they definitely don't have doubts.

"_Well you would certainly know about sullied names, wouldn't you?" _Yes, there was still that to deal with.

"I suppose so," he finally agreed, and he sounded more impassive than he'd meant to.

"But I hope you won't hold that against me," he added with an air of a question. He hoped she would take that to mean he didn't feel like arguing, which he didn't, and he wasn't surprised to find her looking rather confused. Even so, it was better than the entertaining but possibly harmful rage he's seen previously. He wasn't afraid of anyone, but he knew he didn't want to get on her bad side. He'd heard things from Clark.

"Of course not," Lana finally interceded with her brilliant Lana Lang smile, still obviously nervous that more arguing would follow.

"Chloe's not like that," she added, and Lex had to wonder if she spoke the truth.

"Yeah, let's just forget it, guys," Clark said, barely any more convincingly than Lana. "We should get inside before it really starts to pour."

What? Actually, without Lex noticing, it had started to sprinkle and the clouds were growing ever more ominous. Chloe finally nodded her consent, and as they filed into the lobby, Lex hoped she'd also decided they were back on good terms. He didn't feel like losing his contact with one of the few people he found to be on his level, or as close to it as anyone in Smallville could get.

Inside the regretfully familiar lobby area, there were several ticket booths with glass windows behind which tired looking teens were hurriedly taking money and handing back little pink and blue tickets. There was a moment where Lex felt an old sense of longing to know what it was like to have such simple teenage experiences as a horrible summer job you loathe. Then, just as quickly as it had come, it was gone and replaced with his usual feeling of stoicism.

Following everyone's gaze upward, he noted the screen-like boxes that listed the movies in long rows a few feet above the employees' heads in their booths. From the disenchanted look on his face, you would have thought he'd actually expected having the option of some sort of foreign film or documentary. However, this was indeed Lex's usual "I'm killing time at the movies yet again" look.

"Okay, so we're agreed on no horror movies?" Lana asked sounded like she was expecting some dissent.

"Yeah, I don't feel like waking up to you screaming in the middle of the night for the next two weeks," Chloe replied, "Not that it isn't hilarious."

Lana looked like she'd been slapped in the face.

"I do not wake up screaming after seeing scary movies!" she said in her best attempt at assertiveness.

"Well then my dad must just get a really girly voice and have nightmares every time we watch _Signs_ or _Sleepy Hollow_," Chloe laughed, ducking behind Clark to avoid Lana's glare.

"Lana," Lex sighed disappointedly, "…_Sleepy Hollow_? Honestly? You've got to be kidding me. The scariest thing in that movie was Johnny Depp's impersonation of Ichabod Crane."

"Whoa, watch the Johnny Depp insults, Lex!" Apparently Chloe was a big fan. Great.

"It's nothing personal, Chloe," he assured her, "I just preferred him in other movies like _Edward Scissorhands_, or _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_, or…. that newer one with the guy from _Lord of the Rings_."

"Pirates of the Caribbean?" she offered, then added, "Wait… I can't believe you've even seen Fear and Loathing. You're a secret Johnny fan, aren't you, Lex?"

He shook his head in denial, though if he had to put himself into a category regarding the actor it would probably be fan related.

"Not exactly. I take it you are?" Then, deciding on a whim to see if she was really holding a grudge, he added, "He's done some pretty R-rated movies. I'm not sure _our parents_ would approve."

There was a second where she just looked confused, as if she'd prepared a long answer for his first question and then lost her train of thought when he continued. Then he saw it dawn on her that he was actually joking about their earlier argument, and he could only describe it as relieving to see her laugh.

"Well, if I remember correctly, they did abandon us at the first sign of trouble, so they might not be the picture of domestic perfection."

Now it was his turn to laugh, and he was surprised to find Lana and Clark staring at his when he did. What were they looking at?

"What?" he asked, suddenly feeling self conscious. That was certainly a refreshing change.

They exchanged amused glances and Clark shrugged.

"It's just kind of weird to see you laughing, Lex," he supplied awkwardly. Then Chloe nodded her agreement.

"Yeah," she said, "Especially since it's not that evil 'my-company-just-totally-owned-your-company' laugh."

Lex tried not to look amused, but he was. Was this really so unusual to them?

"Don't listen to them, Lex" Lana said reassuringly, like he might fall to pieces any second if she didn't support this new side of him, "It's great to see you show some emotion, Mr. Businessman."

_Wow, Lana's just not that funny, _he thought silently, throwing her a classic smile. _Good thing she has her great personality. _Why was he suddenly thinking kind thoughts about her? Usually he had trouble not focusing on her weaknesses. Maybe he was actually in a good mood. This was also a refreshing change.

"Don't get too used to it," he cautioned, only half joking, just before realizing they had somehow joined one of the lines leading up to the ticket booth.

"Maybe we should choose a movie?" Clark said with nod toward the list. Everyone stared up at the illuminated box and scrolled through the titles and times. Once again, Lex wasn't shocked to find nothing in his taste. The question was now which one would be the least painful to sit through.

"If you guys have any respect for me whatsoever," Chloe started, and Lex could tell where it was going, "We can not see anything starring a singer-turned-actress or a cartoon character."

"Pretty strict standards considering our options," Lex couldn't help complaining.

"Since you two are such fans, why not see the one with Johnny Depp?" Clark offered with a goofy smile.

Naturally, Lex had no idea which one he was talking about, since it wasn't exactly his routine to watch anything on TV other than the news. And occasionally the food network when Emeril was on… There was just something about watching all those people being thrilled every time he "kicked it up a notch" that held Lex's attention on sleepless nights in the mansion, off the record of course.

"Which--?"

"_Finding Neverland_? I am definitely up for that!" Of course, it was Chloe. However, it seemed pretty unanimous as Clark and Lana shrugged and nodded, though the jury was still out on whether it was actual agreement or just indifference. They all looked at him for approval, and who was he to deny them? Furthermore, who was he to protest without any real basis for argument other than he just didn't feel like hearing Chloe praise it afterwards regardless of it's quality.

"Guess it's unanimous," he said with fake happiness that Chloe either didn't notice or didn't care to mention out of fear of him changing his mind.

Just then, the overhead lights flickered momentarily and then went out. There was a moment of panic followed by the hum of a back up generator and then the slightly less bright illumination of the lights turning back on. Everyone looked around at everyone else for a few seconds before everything seemed to return to normal.

"Wow, it's really coming down out there," Lana commented, standing on tiptoe to look over the crowd and out the windows at the sudden downpour of rain splattering sidewalks and cars. The clouds had suddenly become significantly more threatening in dark shades of purplish-gray in lack of the sun that had already sunk beyond the horizon, and the wind seemed to be picking up as well as tree blanches swayed at the edges of the parking lot.

"That was fast," Clark added superfluously, "What do you think gives?"

"Looks like a definite storm. Do we all have our buddies picked for the ride home?" Chloe was smiling at her own childlike personification of them, and Lex distantly marveled at how she managed to entertain herself at all times. She raised her eyebrows questioningly at Lex and he got the feeling she was dropping hints.

"I can fit one person in the truck," Clark offered making sure to make eye contact with both Lana _and_ Chloe.

_Smooth, Clark, _Lex thought.

To be honest, Lex was sickly tempted to offer to take Lana home just to get a twisted sense of enjoyment out of messing up this delicate situation. However, his conscience finally won him over in the end.

_Sure, _now_ you show up._

"If no has any problems with it, I say we just keep things simple and go home the same way we got here," Chloe said assertively.

"You mean by car?" Lex quipped, "I agree, that does seem simpler than walking or waiting here until they get sick of us loitering and just haul us off in squad cars."

Lana suppressed a giggle by clapping her hand to her mouth but Clark laughed openly, and Chloe punched his arm lightly, clearly for encouraging the wrong person. Clark pretended to look hurt, but they all knew he was a _lot_ tougher to penetrate, and Lex had to fight down the urge to ponder it further. That line of thought only seemed to cause more problems.

"Yes, by car, genius," Chloe retorted with her arms crossed, "But don't get any sick ideas. I'll definitely notice if we 'accidentally' end up back at your place instead of mine. I'm just forewarning you, I have pepper spray for this kind of thing."

Lex laughed again, and this time he almost didn't notice them staring at him. This could be useful in the future, he thought with a conniving smirk. He'd work it into an evil plot somehow. After all, he had to uphold his sullied name.

**A/N:** Reviewers, (all, like, three of you. hah) Keep 'em comin'! That's right, you know what I like. LOL Hope this was to your liking….? I know this story is very meandering and seems pointless right now, but if you couldn't tell already there are bad omens for the immediate future in this fic! Stay tuned! Also, I wrote this chapter at 3am so please forgive spelling errors etc., just this once.


	5. The Phantom Conspirator

**A/N: ** Yay for the fun part of the story! The plot could take a while to develop, but I _think_ there actually is one,… so keep reading. And _please_ review; I greatly appreciate it. Sorry for the minimal checking for errors, just didn't have it in me this time.

**Chapter 5: The Phantom Conspirator**

Chloe couldn't believe how well Lex had turned that disaster outside into a mere joke, especially while she'd fixed him with her most contemptuous glare ever. She had to hand it to him, he did seem determined not to let her get to him. But it wasn't like she was trying. They just didn't mix well when thrown together, though she wasn't sure whether it was because they were too different or too much alike. She was sure they had both been raised to be tough strong-minded individuals, partly as compensation for both losing a parent at a young age. Aside from that and their mutual friends, they shared little else besides determination to learn the truth. However, in Lex's case, this was often substituted with determination to _hide_ the truth, and in some cases it meant paying people off to burn the truth to the ground and bury the ashes. It was strange how easily he fit in with their little group, with the exception of Pete, of course. Lana seemed to have finally been able to place her trust in him after he agreed to her proposition of owning the Talon together, and Clark…. Well, Clark was just an abundantly confiding person who could probably find the good in a heinous dictator if he tried hard enough. Of course it would have to entail saving Lana somehow, because otherwise it wouldn't be the classic unexplained Clark Kent miracle.

"Chloe, are you alright?" Lana asked from her seat to Chloe's right, and her voice seemed alarmingly loud through the fog of thoughts still lingering around Chloe's brain. She sat up straight, suddenly quite aware she'd been sliding down into her soft movie theater seat. Looking around, she realized they had all sat down in a row near the top of the stadium-like seats, though she couldn't remember picking a seat next to Lana. There was nothing wrong with Lana, of course, she was after all one of Chloe's best friends. It was just that Lana and Chloe always sat by each other, and Clark and Pete always sat by each other, so everything always worked out nicely for everyone. However, with Pete making excuses to not join them, Chloe had made the mistake of letting Clark and Lana sit right next to each other.

_Poor me and Lex,_ she thought, slumping back down into her chair a little more at the prospect of watching Lana and Clark make small talk and exchange little admiring glances for two hours. A part of Chloe realized that neither of them knew what it was doing to her, but at the same time she just wished they would wake up and see she needed a little more time to fully get over Clark.

"Yeah," she finally replied, "I'm fine. Just can't get comfy in these seats, it's like it's impossible."

Lana smiled her naturally warm smile and nodded, apparently buying that as the only real problem. Chloe leaned forward a little to look down the row to her right and saw Clark and Lex talking about something. From the look on Lex's face, she guessed Clark had picked the topic.

_He looks just as thrilled as me, _she thought to herself with a smile, and she suddenly found herself wondering what those two ever talked about. Most of the time, she figured, it was probably Wall-of-Weird related, which usually involved Clark somehow. If there was anything else Lex and Chloe had in common, she thought, it was that neither of them were quite as oblivious to Clark's mysterious hero feats as everyone else in Smallville. Of course, there was always Lionel Luthor's interest in Clark, even if it was for some sort of personal profit. Honestly, Chloe wasn't sure if Clark should be afraid of Lionel. There was something to be said of being one of the richest men in the world and therefore one of the most influential, but Lex had usually been able to keep his father in check. Then again, could Lex even be trusted to keep _himself_ in check?

"This is nice," Lana said with a sigh as she allowed herself to slip slightly down into the questionable squishiness of her own chair. Chloe saw her looking around the theater and noticed for the first time that it was completely empty other than the four of them.

"Yeah," she replied slowly, "but it's also weird. Didn't this movie just come out last week?"

Clark and Lex had stopped talking and were apparently joining in the conversation now, as Clark nodded in affirmation and looked towards each exit in turn.

"You're right," he offered, "there should be other people here, shouldn't there?"

The lights high overhead on the ceiling blinked erratically for a moment and then went dim one by one, each light flickering once and then going out until the theater was dark but for the silent advertisements on the screen. The gray light from the screen cast a faint glow on the faces of the others as Chloe exchanged glances with them, and she had suddenly acquired a cautious feeling of uneasiness. But that made no sense… Clearly the movie just hadn't been a big hit, or some other new movie was racking up all the points with moviegoers, and therefore no one else was bothering with last week's news. And the lights in the old theater had been faulty in the past, just like most other things in Smallville designed to help bring in a profit. So what it really came down to was Chloe being paranoid, she figured.

"Did that look strange to anyone else?" Lex voiced from next to Clark, and Chloe cringed silently.

_Yeah, but maybe if we just ignore it everything will be fine! _

Just then the screen began to crackle, vertical lines dancing across the gray Pepsi advertisement as spots appeared and the projector blinked off, leaving the theater in almost total darkness. Chloe gripped her seat unknowingly as Lana exhaled suddenly from beside her, and Chloe wondered if the power had gone out everywhere in the theater. But that wouldn't explain the projector, would it? Did those things even run on electricity?

"Guys, what's going on?" Lana said with noticeable worry.

It was times like this when Chloe really hated sitting on the outside of their little group. She always found it was nice to be between two people, especially when her mind started to go crazy with images of teen slasher movies like _Urban Legend _and _Scream_ (**A/N**: haha, Michael Rosenbaum was in Urban Legend).

"The power probably just went out," Clark said reassuringly, and Chloe was _this_ close to believing it when the big metal doors to either side of the theater slammed shut loud enough for all four of them to jump slightly. They all exchanged glances for a second before Clark and Lex jumped up to go investigate. They were halfway down the stairs when Lana looked at Chloe sideways, a look which Chloe interpreted to mean "Screw staying here by ourselves!" Despite her inner voice of logic, Chloe agreed wholeheartedly.

They hurried over to the stairs and began hastily making their way down when Chloe slipped on something rather sticky and fell backwards onto her butt despite Lana's best efforts.

"Chloe!" Lana yelled as the sound of Clark and Lex trying different exits clattered below. From on the floor, Chloe looked up and behind her as something moving caught her attention. She sat up and spun around, temporarily ignoring the stickiness of whatever she was sitting in to look up at the window to the projector booth. To her shock, the black silhouette of a tall man in a top-hat came into view just inside the projector booth behind the window. The man tipped his top-hat forward as if making to bow then slinked away into the dark void of the booth.

"Who the hell was that?" Chloe asked, barely able to get her voice to work. Lana looked up at her from a few steps below with a baffled stare like Chloe was going insane.

"What are you talking about?" Lana asked in unison with Chloe thoughts. Naturally, having not fallen on the floor like Chloe, Lana didn't see the man in the projector's booth. But she was certain she'd seen him! Just as she was about to get up and try to clean herself off, one of the overhead lights directly above Chloe switched on with a luminescent whit glow amidst the dark theater. It cast a pale light on Chloe as she looked up at it and then at Lana, who was suddenly clasping her hand to her mouth in horror. Chloe was about to turn to see if the man in the booth was back when she caught sight of what Lana was gaping at… Looking down at the floor, Chloe found that the sticky substance she had slipped on was not pop or some other drink as she had expected, but a sticky pool of something deep red that she could only guess was blood. She felt the needle-like pricks of panic surge through her body, starting in her stomach and spreading until her hands began to tremble as she brought them up palms first to find them covered with the vivid crimson color of the substance. Chloe suddenly felt a shadow of logic seize her briefly as she wondered if she had injured herself from the fall, but it passed as soon as she saw the origin of the puddle. The small stream seemed to be trickling down the stairs from a crack at the bottom of the windowsill of the projector booth where the phantom silhouette had been just moments before.

"Come on!" Lana said shakily, reaching a slender arm out to help Chloe, who remained in a horrified daze. Still trembling from the encounter, with images of the tophatted man replaying in her head, she felt Lana grab her by her arm and pull her to her feet, and it was all she could do to follow her down the stairs and avoid the stickiness that coated them and clung to her shoes.

"What the hell!" Chloe finally managed to scream as they reached the bottom of the stairs and turned sharply to the right in search of Clark or Lex at one of the exits. She tried desperately to wipe the blood from her hands, but from where she had fallen on the floor the color had stained her skirt and had smeared down her shirt as well, turning the formerly green outfit to an ugly shade of reddish brown all down her side and bottom.

"You didn't see him?" she asked slightly less frantically, jogging to catch up with Lana in front of her as they sped down the dark hallway of turns to the exit hidden at the back of the theater, and finding it exceedingly difficult in her lousy choice of high heels. Lana barely seemed to hear her, but looked over her shoulder at Chloe, at which point it became apparent that she had lost most of the color in her face.

"See who?" she replied sounding frustrated with a question that didn't pertain to the disturbing encounter they had just had. Chloe knew it was stupid to keep prying when clearly Lana had no idea to whom she was referring, but she judged that her reasons were reputable for acting insensibly at the moment.

"The guy! The guy with the top hat… He was in the window at the top of the stairs! You didn't see him at all?"

Lana's only response was a sudden quickening of her pace as Lex came into view as they turned the corner. His pallid form was visible even in such darkness as the lack of electricity afforded them, and Chloe couldn't help but feel relieved when he heard them coming and turned towards them, abandoning his efforts to open the clearly locked exit door. Some light shone in through the window on the door from the illumination of the snack bar just outside the exit, and it cast a dull orange tint on the features of all three of them as they met by the door.

"Looks like someone had this planned ahead of time," Lex started to say, but stopped as he saw Chloe trying to wipe the blood from her hands onto the soft purple carpeting of the wall beside her. Even in the panicky state she was in, she interpreted his expression as concern, which was refreshingly surprising to see.

"Chloe, what happened?" he asked, his voice betraying any suggestion that he was only _slightly_ worried.

Chloe was feeling suddenly very exposed, completely a mess and out of her mind with worry and frustration rearing their ugly heads. She'd never really felt the need to try to impress anyone, least of all the self-absorbed materialistic type of guy, but right now she really would have loved to have had a minute to compose herself in front of a mirror or something. The fact that Clark would soon be present wasn't exactly comforting in that sense either.

"I'm fine," she answered rather hoarsely, as though she had momentarily forgotten how to speak. She cleared her throat and continued,

"I just… I slipped in something. I think it was blood."

Hearing it out loud, it sounded like something out of a cheesy horror movie, but she had more than enough proof that it had indeed happened. Images of the mysterious silhouette flashes again in her mind, and she tried once more to make a connection to who the figure might have been.

"It was coming from the projector booth. So, I don't know…. That might be somewhere to start looking, if I'm correct in assuming that identifying any conspirators is a step in the right direction?"

Lana looked at her as though wondering whether Chloe had really seen anyone there or not. Maybe this was a good thing, after all, since the overwhelming need to prove her sanity in identifying the tophatted man would drive her past her fears of what awaited in the projector booth.

Just then, they heard Clark's distant yell from the other exit at the other end of the theater and all three of them started off at a run down the dark hallway.

Sorry if this is an awful ending place! Also, I hope someone is still reading this! Hahha… Reviewers, though scanty in numbers, you are greatly prized!

Kit Merlot- Wow, you totally get everything I was going for! Yes, I too like Lex's attitude on Lana's "comedy." Hah.

Campbti- Thanks so much! The Chloe/Lex jabs were SO fun to write! I'm just waiting for a chance to do more.

JohnnyPeaches- You sound just like my friend who loves Johnny Depp, too! ;) Yeah, I like Lex's point of view too.

AhToLoveABat- I love people who love the banter! We should start a club!

chloedouble1011- I know, I really wanted people to be surprised by his laughing, 'cause you don't see it on the show!


	6. Those Nagging Questions

**A/N: Pretty sure there are only a few of you who will still read this, since it's been a month or two since I updated last, but thank you anyway! If you do read, please review…I love those tasty little critiques (lol).**

Chapter 6: Those Nagging Questions

Lex jogged the rest of the way behind Chloe and Lana across the rows of seats, passing the small trickling trail of blood which had dripped its way down to the middle of the stairs. He paused as he passed it, following the gleaming trail up to the window with suspicious eyes. What reason could anyone possibly have for locking them in? And what did that have to do with the blood coming from the projector booth? It sounded like someone's sick idea of a joke to him, but underestimating his enemies wasn't something he was renowned for, and the last thing he wanted to do was answer to angry parents if any of the others got hurt. He could just see the look on Mr. Kent's face, lecturing Clark on how things like this would always happen around a Luthor. Chloe's father would probably quit his job working for Lex if anything happened to Chloe, and Pete would have the mother of all victorious "I told you so" moments. Naturally, it would all be accompanied by Lana's innate sympathy but simultaneous avoidance of Lex (except for business with the Talon). It would happen just like it had always happened before, and maybe there wasn't anything he could do to stop it. Then again, this was all under the circumstance in which he himself was this criminal's target. There was still a possibility that it was a new undiscovered meteorite induced phenomenon, in which case Lex was almost certainly off the hook. It was the "almost" part that worried him. In fact, he wouldn't be at all surprised if the majority of Smallville found some way to pin the fiasco on him even if it was caused by a "meteor freak." To say that he was victim to a wide range of accusations would be accurate, if not for the word victim.

"Clark?" Chloe called, snapping Lex out of his downward spiral. The girls were standing near the wall looking down the hallway in shock, and Lex suddenly forgot about the mysterious trail of blood.

As he reached the wall where Chloe and Lana stood staring, he noticed a pale orange glow coming from the direction of their gaze and glanced to his left, not sure what to expect. There stood Clark, looking an interesting mix of guilty and preoccupied. Looking past him, Lex could see that the two metal doors had been forced open and one of the hinges had popped off in the process and now lie on the glossy checkered floor.

"What kind of drills did they run in football, exactly, Clark?" Chloe asked, clearly not at too much a loss of words to be sarcastic. Then again, she never really was.

"I don't know what happened,…" Clark began, but stopped at the look on Lex's face. That's when Lex realized he must have looked as maniacally scheming as he felt right now, and he forced the wave of questions that had come over him to subside for the moment. Those questions were dangerous, prying, nonsensical things that had no place here or now. At least, that was what his mental mantra had always been.

"Who cares, let's just get out of here," Chloe interrupted, though Lex could tell it was a much more calculated response than she was letting on. That raised further questions, and this time he couldn't stop himself from partially indulging in them.

If there was something going on with Clark as strange as it seemed, did Chloe know about it? Why would Clark let Chloe in on any secret that would explain his notoriously good timing? Furthermore, why would he tell Chloe and not Lana, or even Lex himself? What scared him most about this whole idea was not the notion of Clark keeping some dark secret. It was the fact that Lex's own fascination with finding the answer drastically outweighed any rivalry he might have otherwise felt towards Chloe. He wasn't even angry at the possibility of her knowing Clark's secret before him, because he was too busy trying not to embrace the investigative stance he so badly wanted to take on the issue. Although he would never admit it aloud, he desperately wanted to seek the answers to those dangerous, prying, nonsensical questions every time Clark pulled off another miracle. This time was no different.

"You know, being a big movie buff is one thing," Chloe called from outside the room, peeking head back inside the doors as Lex realized the others were ahead of them and halfway to the exit door,

"but sticking around to see the movie after the whole flickering-lights-and-blood-on-the-walls thing calls for a serious assessment of your priorities, Lex."

She was certainly recovering quickly from the trauma of being covering in an unknown person's blood. He would have expected even Chloe to need a little more time before looking back on any of this as funny, especially considering they were still in the middle of it.

"I think your comedic attitude is a little premature, considering the situation," he said bluntly, jogging to catch up to her (which was easy since she could barely walk in her shoes.)

"When faced with a stressful of frightening situation," she replied, "some people fall apart, go completely undeniably delusional. Others make jokes to keep their sanity. If you ever saw the delusional version of me, I'm pretty sure you'd prefer me as a comedian much more." She glanced down at the red stain on her shirt so quickly he almost missed it, but there was definitely something in her expression that hinted at sincerity.

Suddenly, they heard the rattling of a locked door being tried and looked ahead to see Clark and Lana failing to open the exit door. The two backed up from the door and turned back to look dismally at Lex and Chloe.

"This doesn't make any sense!" Lana said frantically, running her hand through her long hair.

"This place was overflowing with people when we got here. Why would everyone have left within ten minutes of getting here?" She crossed her arms trying to conceal the desperation in her voice, but Lex found that Lana was almost always the perfect picture of _exactly_ how she felt. Chloe, as she came up next to him, was less an image of desperation and more one of speculation, biting her lip and squinting at the transition from movie theater darkness to dim hallway brightness.

"Lana's right, you guys," she said, more to herself than anyone else.

"There's no way we wouldn't have heard a fire alarm or something if everyone was evacuated for some reason."

A fire or some other natural disaster might account for the lights going out temporarily, but the blood in the projector booth, the locked doors and the sudden lack of all other people couldn't be explained. Something strange was going on, but it wasn't an accident. Chloe was right in that at least one of them would most likely have heard any fire alarm or emergency announcement if it had happened.

"Unless someone wanted everyone out except us," he added slowly, still operating on grounds of a plot. Clark looked at him curiously.

"You mean like someone planning this all out?" he asked uncertainly.  
"But Lex, why would someone want to trap a random group of people in a movie theater?"

Chloe seemed to be turning the phrase over in her mind, and Lex certainly wasn't going to allude to the idea that this was all his fault, so he stayed silent. Then, just as expected, she replied,

"Maybe it wasn't random at all. I mean, think about it; how many Wall of Weird incidents have actually involved someone targeting people at random? There's always been a story behind these things, and just because we're once again the center of it doesn't mean this is a random act of aggression."

Clark and Lana were making there "Ohhh, _now_ I get it" faces, and Lex was waiting for someone to point out the possibility of this being someone's attempt at getting revenge on the Luthors. After all, he hadn't entirely ruled it out himself, though it wasn't a very attractive prospect. Fortunately, no one seemed to consider it.

"Well I say we either keep trying to escape, which is starting to look pointless," he responded, "or we try to get the bottom of this and find out who our supposed captor is."

Clark started to say something when they all turned at the sound of faint music playing in the theater across from where they had just been. It sounded like classical music, the kind that plays during silent black and while films.

"Do you guys hear that?" Clark asked, already heading toward the theater entrance.

The screen wasn't visible from where they stood in the hallway, but it was casting a gray glow that flickered on the glossy floor. Even without thinking it through, Lex had a bad feeling about this.

**A/N: Sorry it's so short. Next chapterAMAZING! Stay tuned**.


	7. Man in the Window

**A/N:** For anyone actually trying to place this into a season, you should probably know I've included things from several different seasons in here. I might be including Jason and Lionel.. So there you go. Both in the picture, but Jason's just simmering in the back of my mind for now.

…Also, no riddles in this chapter were created by me, and no credit is therefore claimed. I Googled 'em.

Chapter 7- Man in the Window

Chloe glanced sideways at Lana and Lex as they tailed after Clark. She could barely hear the sound of faint music playing in the theater across the hall from theirs, but Clark seemed to hear it quite clearly. Pondering the mystery of Clark Kent and trying to keep up in her heels was proving more difficult that she could have imagined. She wasn't sure how Lana was pulling it off like such a beauty queen, but it was starting to put Chloe in a foul mood.

"Why don't you just take them off?" Lex asked, looking at Chloe with a hint of impatience. It took her a moment to register what he was saying, and she was glad she hadn't immediately replied. She'd never responded well to "Just take it off."

"Because I'd rather not contract some weird incurable foot fungus," she answered uneasily, gripping the smooth metal railing as she strode up the inclined hallway behind Clark and Lana (who had magically paired up again).

"I mean, yeah, they _pretend _to clean the floors… But for all we know, they could just be mopping the same spot over and over again. Also, I think they're holding a grudge against me."

He looked curious, so she continued, surprised had slowed his pace just to listen to her.

"The last time Lana and I came here, we got an empty theater. Naturally, I had this crazy idea that we should try to sit down in every seat one at a time as fast as we could. Lana wasn't very good at it; she was worried about getting caught or something. Anyway, the janitor came in about a minute into it and told us to 'sit our asses down or get the hell out!'"

Chloe had to laugh as she remembered the ashamed look on Lana's face.

" Lana was so embarrassed, she wouldn't go to the movies with me for a month."

Lex was looking an interesting medley of amused and apprehensive when she looked to him for a response. Still, at least, one thing he certainly wasn't looking was surprised. She could just imagine his thoughts. Probably something like "why do I waste my time on high school kids?" For a moment, Chloe had to wonder just that. It wasn't like either of the Luthors to engage in normal social activities like movies or casual dinners too often. After all, what kind of business profit would come from that? They were in the public eye, so naturally they treated life outside the mansion as a careful game of chess. If there was one thing she was sure Lex had inherited from Lionel, it was his nature of anticipating every possible event and adapting to it. Whenever she was around him, Chloe got the sense that he planned each action in advance, had a strategy for _everything. _Occasionally people threw surprises at him, but that was just it; he always accounted for those, too. He never fed anyone pure emotion, only cool indifference with a hint of something deeper. She suspected that his father was the only one who'd seen him with his guard down before. But that made sense when one considered the younger Luthor's childhood. He was still a little boy when his mother passed away, and Chloe knew what it was like to lose a parent. Had that been the last time his father looked at him as a real person, as his son? Was that the day Lionel decided to raise him as an imitation of himself? Maybe even Lex didn't know the answers.

A soft crackling sound accompanied the old classical music as they entered the theater. None of the lights in this room were working, and the hypnotic gray glow of the screen was the only radiance. Crooked lines danced across the screen with the crackling sounds, as though an old black and white film was being played. And yet, there was only blankness. The music grew louder in volume as the four of them stood in the aisle staring at the screen.

"Strange," Lana breathed, barely a whisper since she couldn't seem to muster anything more.

Suddenly aware of the black darkness to her left, Chloe drew automatically closer to Lex and Clark as they stood. The stillness pervading the massive room gave her an uneasy feeling, as though there was something nameless lurking in the aisles. It made her shiver, though the air conditioning was non-operational. The heat had been getting more intense almost in sync with the strange events, and Chloe was finally glad she hadn't dressed too conservatively. Her feet were still slowly killing her, though, and she wished they hadn't cost her forty dollars. There was no _way_ she was leaving them behind.

"This is officially peaking my investigative interest," Chloe added, trying her best to find the humor in the situation. Still, the neurotic feeling of being watched lingered in the back of her mind.

This was no ordinary monsters-under-the-bed kind of feeling, either. There was something sinister in the movement of the lines crackling across the screen, and the music was slightly off, somehow. It all felt a little too coincidental. Honestly, weren't there any other people in Smallville to get caught up in these messes? It seemed like all Smallville's problems singled out her group of friends, Clark in particular. But then again, half the time they went _looking _for the problems.

Naturally, Chloe surveyed the expressions of her comrades in capture. That was what it felt light, anyway, like being captured. At her right, she could see each of their profiles lit up by the screen, and each was wearing a slightly different face. Clark was a sturdy show of concern and curiosity, his normally boyish features somehow more mature in his concentration. Lana was her typical lovely self, wide eyed and uneasy as she pushed her hair away from her face. Lex was characteristically the most composed of them all, his intrigue illustrated by a slightly raised eyebrow and the start of a smirk. Apparently, he found some part of this entertaining. To Chloe, details were of great importance, and sometimes they made all the difference. For that reason, she noted people's reactions to things and tucked them safely away mentally for later use.

Just as Chloe was about to suggest they move on, the music became slightly louder. Her attention drawn back to the screen, she was surprised to see elegant black letters slowly appearing as though written by some imaginary hand. The cursive went onto a second line just as the image of a black and white door appeared behind the text. A bolded black question mark planted itself firmly on the door, and the text became suddenly white so it was visible against it. When the words finished writing themselves, Chloe could hardly make out the letters and was having trouble reading it. She glanced at Lex who seemed to be a step ahead of her. He read aloud, over the music,

"_What force and strength cannot get through _

_I, with a gentle touch, can do. _

_Many there are in the twisted halls _

_Were I not, as a friend, at hand."_

As soon as he started, Chloe had taken a notepad and pen from her purse and begun recording his words at light-speed. Somehow, she was sure this was significant, and they didn't know how long the writing would remain onscreen.

"A riddle?" Clark asked with confusion.

"Yes, and most likely a clue," Lex said, not hiding his intrigue as well as before. "Someone _wants_ us to find them."

Chloe could have done without the last part, since she was already bordering on paranoid, but the truth remained. Someone was playing a game and wanted them to be the pawns. The only rule seemed to be that they couldn't leave the movie theater.

Just then, the cursive writing disappeared from the screen to be replaced by the sound of a man's piercing laughter. It was all around them, filling the dark room with its maniacal sound. Chloe finally twisted around to look up at the projector booth and gasped at the eerie silhouette. She grabbed Lex's arm and, without taking her eyes of the window, anxiously tugged until he followed her gaze. The black outline of the man in the top hat raised its arm and waved a gloved hand playfully at them. Since the window was more than halfway up to the ceiling on the back wall, it was impossible to make out any of the features of his face. Then, without warning, the projection booth dimmed to blackness and the screen went blank again. The man in the window was either gone or cloaked in darkness.

"Chloe," Lex said gently, as though she might shatter if he spoke to harshly, "was that the man you saw earlier?"

Her mind still fixed on the riddle and the mysterious man, she only managed a nod.

"Then I'd say he's the creator of our game," he said with an icy edge to his voice. He obviously didn't like playing by someone else's rules.

Lana and Clark had turned around just as the window had gone dark, missing the mystery man by mere seconds.

"You saw him again?" Lana asked with shock as they stumbled down the isle towards the door. "The guy in the hat?"

Chloe nodded again, too busy turning the riddle over in her mind to form a sentence. She glanced down at the scribbled phrases on her notepad as they emerged into the dim hallway, biting her lip as her eyes ran over the words. It was one of those old non-rhyming riddles they used to give out middle school for fun. When there was a holiday break coming and no one felt like working, the teachers used to hand out little crossword puzzles, word searches and such to keep the kids busy. Of course, no one took them seriously back then, but now Chloe was really wishing she'd paid more attention. This one wasn't ringing any bells.

"Can you read it back to us?" Lex asked distractedly as they all stood under one of the fluorescent ceiling lights, glancing at Chloe's notepad.

"Yeah, sure," she answered, "but unless one of us has a hidden talent for deciphering impossible riddles, I don't think it's worth much."

Clark crossed his arms in thought as she began reading each line slowly, and Lana leaned her weight on one leg as she listened.

"What force and strength can not get through," she said, though not as fluidly as Lex had, "I, with a gentle touch, can do." She paused for everyone to think it over.

"So this is one of those 'what am I' riddles, like back in middle school?" Clark said with distaste. Clark had never been fond of the holiday word puzzles, and Chloe could understand that. There was something about searching through three hundred small-print letters for the word "snowman" or "reindeer" that was permanently scarring.

"Yeah. So,… I got nothing on the first part," Chloe sighed, tapping the line on her paper with her thumb. Lex leaned against the glass case of the snackbar behind him, and she couldn't help but admire how polished he looked. Even in the Kansas summer heat, in their compromising situation, he looked like he just stepped off the front page of a magazine. In fact, he'd been on enough _Newsweek_ and _People _magazine covers for her to know what that was like. Angry Lex, depressed Lex, overjoyed Lex, impious Lex,… they were all nearly identical in appearance but for their subtle trademarks. He _was_ one of those occasions where details made all the difference. She could probably have taken a college course on him and still never mastered the study of his idiosyncrasies. In Chloe's mind, people were rarely so inexplicably complex.

A the ridiculous thought had just popped into her head, and she started to smile. She could see herself frantically scribbling notes from a chalkboard in a lecture hall, trying desperately to understand the professor's lecture on the influences of Lex Luthor. _Proffesor, _she could see herself asking, _I still don't understand the part where he decides to stay in Kansas even though he's one of the richest men in the world. And professor, I didn't understand the chapter on whether or not he actually shampoos his head. And professor,… why always the purple shirt?_

She snorted a laugh but quickly realized how out of place it must look. Sure enough, Lana and Clark were staring at her with their "she's weirder than we thought" expressions. Lex was actually looking downright pissed off.

"Forgive me for not seeing the humor in this," he said in a mock apologetic tone.

She straightened up a little more, determined to hold her ground.

"It's not funny," she said flatly, "I was…" she trailed of for a moment.

_I was just thinking about all the things I'll never understand about you._ Somehow, that came out as,

"Let's just get back to the clue, alright?"

_How come I always have to censor myself around him? I'm starting to wish they actually did teach a course on him._

"That's fine," Lex said shortly. Chloe wanted to laugh again at the way he was almost pouting, but she knew it would only cause further problems. An argument was the furthest thing from what they needed right now. They needed to brainstorm, to bounce ideas of each other until the answer revealed itself. Unfortunately, that would require staying on his good side.

"You seem like the most qualified person to do the mental detective work, here," she said with a smirk, handing him the notepad.

He hesitated a moment, apparently wavering between the want to shun her and the need to figure the message out. Finally, he took the notepad in one hand and skimmed the words with careful gray eyes. He definitely knew what he was looking for, even if Chloe didn't. That was what she liked about; he didn't share all his secrets. That was what annoyed her about Clark, because Clark was so obvious. She hated having something to investigate right in front of her face and not being allowed to do it. Lex's secrets were understated by his actions, his words only implications of their true meaning. Someone like that deserved her reporters' attention.

**A/N: TBC… as in, the next chapter is flipping amazing, so stay tuned. (Comments are greatly appreciated. I'd like to know where people want this to go… I think that would be fun!)**


End file.
